Due to the weaker Nintendo Switch hardware, a significant number of triple-A games cannot find their way into the system unless it is a cloud version of them.
Luckily, Nintendo is still the best console maker out there, and a bevy of independent game studios put their games into the platform. Here are the 15 independent games available on Switch that are a must-buy for everyone who owns the system.
1. FEZ
FEZ is probably the game that energized the independent video game scene. It is just a shame that the creator, Phil Fish, decided to quit the industry (although not entirely as he seems to appear in some projects) and there will never be a sequel to this innovative game.
FEZ was released a decade ago. It originally appeared on the Xbox 360, under the Xbox Live Arcade program, and a year later it got ported to every platform imaginable: PC, then PS3, and PS Vita. Some of these platforms are basically dead but this game just keeps getting ported, a testament to its greatness.
FEZ is a unique platformer that plays around perspectives. Your controlled character basically has a 2D perspective in a 3D world. Imagine Carl Sagan’s discussion on the 4th Dimension, FEZ is probably the video game approximation of that.
There are no major changes in the Nintendo Switch port of the game, not even that it was needed, and its technical performance on the hybrid console is more than good, with a stable rate of frames per second that is not really an impossible feat given the age of the game.
- Developer: Polytron Corporation
- Publisher: Trapdoor
- Release Date: April 14, 2021
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
2. Disco Elysium – Final Cut
Most of the time, when indie games are brought into a conversation, they almost always refer to platformers like FEZ or excessively difficult games like Super Meat Boy, hard-hitting emotional games like What Happened to Edith Finch, or excessively difficult and hard-hitting emotional platformers like Celeste. Disco Elysium stands out from the crowd as being developed by an independent studio, a CRPG, and more importantly, playable on the Nintendo Switch.
Disco Elysium is one of the best-written video games in history. In this game, you guide an amnesiac detective into solving mysteries using any and every kind of maneuver. The game allows you to choose how you go about and the choices are aplenty.
Admittedly, Disco Elysium – Final Cut on the Switch has performance issues compared to versions of the game on other platforms. However, only the Switch can give you true portability whilst playing the game, cloud gaming solutions aside, or if you have been blessed to have a Steam Deck delivered or it being available where you live.
- Developer: ZA/UM
- Publisher: ZA/UM
- Release Date: October 12, 2021
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
3. Undertale
Undertale may look like a modern NES game, but it is everything but that. This game is incredibly subversive it is refreshing.
Undertale tells a tale about a world where a thousand years ago, people and monsters coexisted peacefully on the planet. That is, until a conflict broke out, which led to mankind driving the monsters deep underground and trapping them there.
Playing as a little child who accidentally descends into the land of monsters, you explore and learn about it as you search for a route back to the surface. Along the route, you discover more about the monsters’ background, culture, way of life, and other emotions. This holds true also for NPCs, such as merchants or innocent bystanders, who are all brimming with personality in addition to the primary ensemble of characters you meet.
The main aspect of the gameplay that Undertale emphasizes is the choice of whether to kill enemies to get experience points or choose the path of peace and spare their lives. No matter what you choose to do, the game will react to it, and your experience can differ greatly from anyone else playing the game. This also makes the game ripe for multiple playthroughs.
The lore of this game is incredibly detailed and absurd. This and Disco Elysium do away with the RPG trappings of the protagonist saving the world as a farm boy or chosen one. Undertale is everything but conventional.
- Developer: Toby Fox
- Publisher: Toby Fox
- Release Date: September 18, 2018
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
4. Cult of the Lamb
For a more recent game, Cult of the Lamb, praise be, descends into the Nintendo Switch. This game is quite unique. It involves the formation of a serious cult with worshippers headed by a sacrificed lamb. It combines genres sim management and rogue-lite in a way never been done this polished before.
You are a lamb who is killed by a legion of worshipers. The malevolently titled The One Who Waits, an old god imprisoned in the afterlife to await his return to Earth, grabs you from death and returned you to life once again. You are asked to form a cult and vanquish the four gods holding The One Who Waits hostage in return for receiving a second shot at life.
Action-packed dungeons and micromanaging a cult are the core gameplay loops of this game. These disparate genres surprisingly mesh well.
Working your way through one of these dungeons is your first task. You must overcome a string of hostile dungeons, and for each one you conquer, a treasure box will be unlocked. The straightforward dungeons and simple yet sensational battles keep things going along, and the variety of adversaries and obstacles keeps things interesting even for those who do not like roguelikes and rogue-lites.
- Developer: Massive Monster
- Publisher: Devolver Digital
- Release Date: August 11, 2022
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
5. Boyfriend Dungeon
Boyfriend Dungeon is a great game if you want to have more of a romantic flavor in your dungeon crawling.
Boyfriend Dungeon’s plot is, to put it mildly, intriguing. Players assume control of the protagonist, and their character generally remains mute with only occasional minor comments to other characters.
You just relocated to Verona Seaside, a charming beach town that, for unknown reasons, has become the location of explorable dungeons. It’s rather common to visit a dungeon (or “dunj”) rather than just going out for coffee or dinner. The dunjs are littered with hostile enemies, that’s when your date enters the picture as they transform into a weapon for you to wield. No, that is not a metaphor for anything. Those words should be taken in the literal sense.
- Developer: Kitfox Games
- Publisher: Kitfox Games
- Release Date: August 11, 2021
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
6. The Messenger
The Messenger is a visual revelation of a game that you could dismiss at first sight as just another nostalgia service for older gamers. The Messenger draws on the tradition of Ninja Gaiden as well as classic Metroidvania from Nintendo’s golden era, and it’s one of the greatest Switch experiences, indie or not.
The Messenger doesn’t spend time with unnecessary exposition, this game is in medias res. An ancient demon attacks your tranquil ninja town, and as the sole survivor, you are charged with trekking east to deliver an ancient scroll.
From there, the story is simple: you go over a few linear levels, improving your equipment and exchanging conversations with a strange shopkeeper while fighting off some baddies who want you dead so they can grab the aforementioned scroll.
The Messenger has a fantastic soundtrack, inspired art style, and great writing makes this game a must-play for those who love the Metroidvania way.
- Developer: Sabotage Studio
- Publisher: Devolver Digital
- Release Date: August 30, 2018
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
7. SUPERHOT
SUPERHOT is a distinctive take on the first-person shooter genre. The time in your environment only moves when you move, meaning if you are not taking any actions, the game is literally paused (actually they move, but time moves incredibly slow).
In SUPERHOT, your only adversaries are men colored with red who perish in a single shot and aren’t very challenging on their own. The issue is, so do you. As soon as you defeat one foe, you move on to the next, figuring out how to jump and slash your way out of danger, evading every harm that goes your way.
Although the campaign is fairly short, SUPERHOT is somewhat a replayable game with its Endless mode and Challenges. In terms of the quality of the Switch port, SUPERHOT’s simple aesthetics translates to a solid experience that smoothly runs 60 frames per second, however, load times are significantly longer as compared to other versions of the game.
- Developer: Chuhai Labs
- Publisher: Thunderful Publishing
- Release Date: August 18, 2022
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
8. Cursed to Golf
It is a rare occurrence that you see a sports game in the indie world scene. Obviously, licensing deals with real-life leagues or athletes are for large publishers only. However, Cursed to Golf skirts this licensing dilemma by being an original game based on a sport.
In Cursed to Golf, you must golf your way back to the world of the living as a golfer who was struck by lighting completing the final hole in a tournament. This golfer has been cast into Golf Purgatory, completing all eighteen holes in one roguelike run.
Cursed To Golf is a unique take on the sport blending roguelike elements into it. In this game, it is more than just whacking the golf ball as hard as you can. You are to tackle each level like a puzzle, mechanically testing your abilities and nerve to zig-zag through its dungeon-like golf courses.
You can use one of three clubs: one powerful long-range whack that can knock a guy out cold, the iron for mid-range strokes when you need to get the ball through tight areas, and the wedge for more precise close-range shots.
- Developer: Dennaton Games
- Publisher: Devolver Digital
- Release Date: August 19, 2019
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
9. Pool Panic
Is billiards a sport? If based on Olympics, it might not be. Whether it is a sport or a “game”, it does not matter, because Pool Panic should serve you with another fresh take on the sport.
This is an Adult Swim product, so you’d know you will be weirded out by the direction this game will take you.
Your goal is to complete more than a hundred stages in various locations, each with its own mini-pool game. Each environment has a different goal, but every hole is a goal. Each level also has its own set of added incentives, such as a time restriction, finishing the level with a certain minimum shots, and so on. Some of the levels will make you chuckle a lot just because of how insane they are when you load into them.
- Developer: Rekim
- Publisher: Adult Swim
- Release Date: July 19, 2018
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
10. Soundfall
Soundfall is a rhythm-based game mixed with twin-stick shooting. Soundfall, as a twin-stick shooter, provides a fulfilling experience with gratifying strikes that are enhanced by precise synchronization with the beat of the song.
Aside from the soundtrack, the player has a giant beat indication in the center of the screen, similar to a rhythm game. Firing a shot in time with that allows for greater damage to be done while also allowing for faster completion times.
The beautiful thing about the rhythm mechanic is that the player is not penalized for mistakes. You can still advance by dealing less damage; it simply takes longer, and you’ll have to figure out the timing for the traversal-based rhythm tasks.
This game also features HD rumble, which should allow you to physically feel the rhythm of the night (or day). It is significantly simpler to execute attacks when the strongest shudder in the rumble coincided with the rhythm, but it also came in helpful for the traversal parts.
- Developer: Drastic Games
- Publisher: Noodlecake Studios
- Release Date: March 11, 2022
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
11. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge not only recreates the happiness of playing a Ninja Turtles classic arcade game from the olden days, but it also perfectly includes modern QoL such as advanced combo controls, a plethora of moves, and incredible animations.
This game is not just nostalgia bait. The pixel-perfect animation and control scheme are just a few of its good characteristics. The music is phenomenal, the narrative is flawless, and the classic game design is updated to play like a modern game without losing much of its appeal.
While the older generation might be feeling all the feelings of playing this game, newcomers should not hesitate to play this game either. It is a great game whether you were born in 1982 or 2012.
- Developer: Tribute Games
- Publisher: Dotemu
- Release Date: June 16, 2022
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
12. Mini Motorways
If you want a muted experience, and attain a level of zen while holding your Nintendo Switch, Mini Motorways should be a perfect game to play.
What seems like just a charming city-planning simulation quickly turns into a frenzied puzzle that you must solve before time runs out. The anxiety of watching your meticulously designed urban plan fall in front of your eyes is overwhelming.
Mini Motorways is basically about linking randomly generated houses and locations that emerge progressively over the duration of your game; the house colors correspond to the destinations the cars must reach. You are limited to the number of road tiles you may lay, so you must be efficient in order to build the roads you require. You can pause the action to plan your layout if things become too overwhelming.
Mini Motorways thrives in the often-sudden swing from peaceful to frenzied, delivering players a new spin on both the puzzle and city-planning simulation genres.
- Developer: Dinosaur Polo Club
- Publisher: Dinosaur Polo Club
- Release Date: May 11, 2022
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
13. Tetris Effect: Connected
Another game that should send you straight to the trance land. Tetris Effect featured stunning visuals and a terrific soundtrack making it one of the best renditions of the undisputed Greatest of All Time video game: Tetris. Tetris Effect: Connected then ups the ante even further.
Tetris Effect: Connected for Nintendo Switch offers everything from other platforms except VR capability. You receive the complete Journey Mode, which includes all 30 stages with unique and near-perfect music and visuals, the unlocking theater mode, the multiple Effect Modes, and the new multiplayer modes included in the Tetris Effect: Connected also on other platforms.
Speaking of multiplayer, the Switch port also features complete cross-platform support, which is always a welcome addition. The HD rumble is a huge part of what makes Tetris Effect: Connected more immersive, and the developers went above and beyond adding more rumbling for the Nintendo Switch system.
Tetris Effect: Connected makes it mandatory to use the Nintendo Switch Pro or Joy-Cons, no matter how uncomfortable or terrible they are compared to third-party controllers just because of the rumbling effect.
- Developer: Stage Games
- Publisher: Enhance Games
- Release Date: October 8, 2021
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
14. Among Us
At the height of the pandemic, most people had Among Us as their go-to game or even just watched streamers play the game. It was the appropriate type of game for bringing pals together online when seeing them in person isn’t a possibility. Even if the movement restrictions are lifted nowadays, Among Us is still a great game to play with friends and strangers.
Among Us is primarily a social deduction game in which you play as either a crewmate or an imposter in a group of up to ten people. If you’ve played Werewolves, you should have a good sense of what to expect here. The crewmates’ purpose is to navigate throughout the map doing various chores as they go while the imposter tries to blindside and kill them all.
The simplistic graphics and gameplay are not the major selling point of this game. It is the player-created chaos that makes Among Us a staple for those who want to experience clean fun.
- Developer: Innersloth
- Publisher: Innersloth
- Release Date: December 15, 2020
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
15. Cuphead
If you have enjoyed the previous 14 recommendations, it is time to infuriate you. Cuphead with all of its cutesy graphics is literally evil incarnate as it is one of the most difficult games out there, indie or AA or triple-A.
Cuphead tells the story of Cuphead and Mugman. They made a dangerous bet with the Devil himself. They lost and their souls are damned. However, the Devil offered another deal. If they can track down and collect the souls of other gamblers-turned-debtors on the run from the Devil, he’ll let the duo walk free.
Cue a series of otherworldly difficult stages in which you must eliminate a slew of bosses to save the duo’s souls. It is worth mentioning to please use any controller other than the Joy-con as it is wildly uncomfortable. Just do not throw your controllers away because of your inevitable frustrations.
- Developer: Studio MDHR
- Publisher: Studio MDHR
- Release Date: April 18, 2019
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
Conclusion
There are a large number of indie games available on the Nintendo Switch. These are just a few selections that are either unique or just plain too spectacular to miss.
Since the Nintendo Switch has the weakest hardware among all the console makers, it just makes sense for indie games to drop into the platform. Any indie game that you are looking forward to in the future, as a general rule, will be ported to the Switch.
